RFC = Renamed for Consistency - Like files, such as character icons, should be similarly named. These are usually minor fixes.

TR = Technical Rename - removing or changing things like punctuation, unnecessary numbers, or files with weird issues in them. Files should have no punctuation other than a sparingly used hyphen.

RFA = Renamed for Accuracy - Spelling errors, wrong names, poor formatting, or lack of specified game. More-specific-to-the-image naming. This is about 85% of when the main file name is changed. These are usually major fixes.

NCR = Naming Conflict Rename - Files that are almost identically named that are renamed to avoid confusing the two. Hypothetical examples: Kirby.png vs. Kirby.PNG, or Dedede1.png vs. Dedede 1.png

RIF = Removed Image:/File: - Using <Gallery> means you don't need to use "Image:" (which shouldn't really be used anyway) or "File:". If I'm passing through a gallery, I'll try to remove any I see. It may also mean changing Image: to File: for single images.

UPI = Unused Personal Image

ECE = Edit Conflict Error

Additionally, because autofill is an evil tool from evil town, I add a symbol in each edit summary so it doesn't save forever. In 2020, it is an ampersand (&).

Sleigh, Space Reactor, and Top--as well as other conjectural names--should have a top-of-page banner used to make it absolutely clear that a name has been created by the wiki team. Overall, conjecture needs consistency. - 18:24, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

A lot of pages tend to have extraneous spaces, both in templates and in sentences. These should be removed - 18:24, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

Numerous files have no, outdated, or generic copyrighting on them. They should be fixed to include the proper license. - 18:24, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

A lot of pages don't seem to be uniform in section order-especially with Trivia. The main page for sectioning a page should be consulted and better efforts should be made into making sure every section is where it is supposed to go. - 22:12, 11 April 2020 (UTC)

More image copyrights should be added, such as for scans and merchandise. - 16:30, 10 May 2020 (UTC)

See if there are any templates from various other wikis that could/should be integrated here. - 20:48, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Virtually all sprites need optimizing; all have had savings from a minimum of 70% to a maximum of 99.8%. They should be cropped to contain as little transparency as possible. - 20:48, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Similarly, most game screenshots should be recaptures as native resolution PNGs (unless in-console screenshot is native jpg, such as Wii U or Switch) - 20:48, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Many policy pages have awkward group phrasing, or weird gendering in place. The ambiguous 'They' should replace it! - 02:36, 18 April 2020 (UTC)

Placement of {{About}} is not consistent among articles. Some have it at the very top while others have it under the box. - 16:07, 18 April 2020 (UTC)

References are not frequently made as a section. This should be remedied. - 17:30, 18 April 2020 (UTC)

Discuss using doc or noinclude for templates. - 00:12, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

Most uploads from Aphelocoma Mario need better copyright tagging and categories for the images. Same applies to the earliest Moydow uploads (later ones seem to be better) - 16:17, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

A lot of galleries could aggregate the sprites found on various pages (main page, specific ability, specific enemy) to be shown all together in one place. - 16:17, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

useful tags:

{{media-quality|Exceeds the 30 second limit}}

{{image-quality|Re-upload at a higher quality, without a watermark}}

{{delete-revision|delete all versions that exceed 30 seconds in length due to copyright}}

When naming a file, it is most important to keep three "C"s in mind: Consistency, clarity, and capitalization. Additionally, a well named file can answer the questions "What game is this" and "What is the file about" WITHOUT the need to see the file.

I personally try to have all files be named in the following format: (Game Name/Abbreviation) (Object or Action) (Specifics).extension, but it is more important to remain consistent amongst the files being dealt with over this format. For a specific example, if all the other files being dealt with are in the format "Game Abbreviation Character Icon.extension", your file should properly reflect this. In terms of what 'Specifics' means, it means what the type of image is. There are about five types of images, being Artwork, Icon, Screenshot, Sprite, and Model/Render (varies).

Clarity is fairly simple: The name should make sense. Avoid using more words than necessary to convey what the image is about, and if conjecture needs to be used, try and use wording that is directly used for the intended caption or surrounding context.

Capitalization once again is about making sure all files have lowercase extensions, and proper uppercase letters for any abbreviations (use SMW over smw). Don't use all uppercase, either.

Capitalized extensions. Pretty good reason as to why I'd bring it up this many times if it wasn't a big deal.

Inconsistency. Files named 'SMM2 The cool Song of doom.oga' have weird, inconsistent capitalization; similar multiple files that change capitalization should be renamed to prevent it.

Overabbreviating. Shortening game names can be nice, but shortening things such as area names or characters may lead to some confusion or NCRs later down the road. Whispy Woods is not that long of a name, and does not need to be written as WW, for example.

Using the gif format for static images: These can be uploaded as png files, and it is better to do so.

Having funny file names. While files about yoshi being named "ugly green frog" is a good chuckle, it also makes it very difficult to identify what the file is actually about.

Unnecessary numbers. Sometimes it makes sense to name files numerically, such as Intro 1/Intro 2/Intro 3, but if it could be reasonably avoided, it should be.

Punctuation. While you can use some punctuation, it should only be used if said punctuation appears in what the file is describing. Personally, if it is not a hyphen, I do not like to keep punctuation, such as exclaimation points or apostrophes. Most importantly, do NOT (ever) use periods or pound signs (#) in file names because that can affect the coding. Furthermore, do not use parentheses, quotation marks, unicode, funky letters like À; Æ; Ö, emojis (yes people have tried), or unnecessary hyphens (ex: KRD-Cool-Door-Sprite.gif).

Too broad a name. Don't name a file after only the page you are referring to, as most of the time it may come back in a later game or in another form. 'Gordo.png' or 'Kirby right back at ya.jpg' are hypothetical examples of broad naming.

The way I approach renaming a file is by first having the File page open.

I then open all the pages it is both used on and pages I can edit in a new tab, but you may opt into windows or your own method instead.

Move the file to the appropriate name.

Generally speaking, all pages that start with "User:" or "Talk archive:" cannot be edited, but regular pages, pages listed with "Gallery:", and pages listed with "User talk:" (including archives) usually can be edited.

Most importantly to change is the regular pages and galleries. Locate the image and where it is used (sometimes it may be used more than once) and replace it. I generally find it helpful to use copy and pasting here. If you have the find tool, it can help minimize time spent searching. I am not an all computer wizard, but it tends to be command-F for macs and control-F for not-macs.

If you decide to preserve the user talk pages as well, open them up and do the same replacement if possible. Some user talk pages are protected, meaning the images are unable to be replaced. This is okay. This stuff happens. Not all images last forever, and that is why it is okay User pages don't need attention. If you can replace any images, edit ONLY the file name and nothing else. Indicate in the summary very clearly why a talk page or archive was edited. I use the term FNC, file name change, but as long as people understand why, it is acceptable.

Once all pages have been addressed, go to the created redirect and mark it with the {{delete}} tag. Indicate a reason for deletion (FNC would likely be understood here too). After this, check the page "What Links Here" on the left side under "Tools". This is helpful for two reasons: The first is to make sure you didn't miss anything! The second is to see if any linked but undisplayed files are used.

Having a consistent naming structure(s) leads to easier use of the wiki! Without funky file names, people won't be confused about how to type them in, be able to search for files easier, and be able to know what each file is on a large page like a gallery without being able to see it when editing. Some people when writing could even be able to just write a filename without even having to look it up. While making file names better, it also can reach to a large amount of pages to help fix problems on those pages as well. Some less popular pages can be scanned for errors.

JPG/JPEG is a lossy type of image. While compressing, the file may lose quality in order to have a better file size. They are less preferred than other file types, but that is not to say they are bad. Usually, JPGs are used for artworks or Wii U/Switch screenshots. JPG files cannot and should not be converted into other file types.

GIF is a lossless types of image, revolutionary for supporting animation and transparency. It can only display 256 colors per frame, however. These files are most recommended to be used for animated images only, as the successor file type is much more effective at displaying images. Additionally, gameplay GIFs should be avoided because too many colors at once causes dithering, a process where color values exceeding GIF's 256 are replaced with a "best guess", usually, reducing the overall quality.

PNG is essentially GIF 2 electric boogaloo. It was designed to improve on the lossless format to be both more compressed but also have more color options available to the viewer. A majority of wiki files are in this format. PNG is also transparency supportive, and is usually the smallest file type available. The main distinction between PNG and GIF is that PNG does not necessarily have animation support. There were several attempts to add it on later down the line, such as MNG (creator:png group) or APNG (mozilla), but they do not hold universal value. While the wiki supports APNG uploads, it is not heavily suggested as it is not quite available to all users and are usually large in size.

SVGs are interesting lossless files. They are universally supported, and essentially run images off text files. The two reasons that these files may be used over PNG is because they are much much smaller, and because that they can be displayed at any size without a change in quality. You want a 9000 by 9000 pixel SVG? It'll go there and look just as good as 152x152. They are only effective when it comes to line art or very simple artworks, however.

PNGs can be transparent, but they might not be. Sometimes the source uses a white background and that is ok. Transparency should not be artificially created just because an image is a PNG. Images should never be made transparent in systems like GIMP. Only official transparency should be used.

Interfile periods, periods that are in a file name that aren't for the extension, are not really great to have. While other punctuation found in a subject is usually okay, sometimes systems freak out as to when the extension starts when it comes to periods. For example, it may read a file named "Mr. T Artwork.jpg" as it should be, Mr. T Artwork, with an extension of jpg, OR it might read the file as Mr T with the extension of Artwork.jpg

There doesn't appear to be a rhyme or reason as to when one happens over another, but typically it messes up in galleries over anything else. It's better to be safe and avoid them entirely. If anything, it is simply easier to read.

Hyphens are a difficult middle ground when it comes to naming files. While they should be used for anything with a hyphen specifically in the name, they should NOT be used in place of spaces. The reason for this is generally because it's easier to type without a space, and the use of hyphens simply creates more opportunities for files to be almost identically named. KSSU-Moon.png and KSSU Moon.png could be two different files, and it is not the most effective to name them so similarly.

A hyphen (-), found on most keyboards, is not to be confused with a dash (—) or a minus sign (−).

I usually use them to be able to reference different types of images. Often, I will use the at sign @, dollar sign $, percent %, ampersand &, and dead key grave ` (and rarely asterism, usually for lists ⁂) to self categorize groups of images. For example, if I am going to need to fix the aboutfiles on a set of images, I might add % to them and do all of those images at the same time. Generally, they don't mean the same thing for the same section.

Smart quotes and apostrophes are a type of quote that is not on a universal keyboard. They appear like this: (“|”|‘|’). They were essentially created to add style to the regular straight quotes (sometimes jokingly called dumb quotes) as seen here: ("|'). Since Smart Quotes do not appear on most keyboards as a standard, we try to avoid them the best we can. Some browsers/OS have automatic correction to smart quotes, especially apple products. These settings can be turned off in various settings pages.

Since some people may only be using smart quotes, pages that utilize quotations and apostrophes should have extra redirects made that utilize them.

Image optimization is a LOSSLESS process in which an image has its metadata removed. Metadata is more text based, hidden information attached to files. Generally some metadata could include the date of capture, the file's dimensions, or type of camera used. While maybe useful for personal use, it's not necessary to have on the wiki. Hence, the emphasis on optimizing files.

There are a number of programs available to optimize files. The most popular are PNG Monstrous (formerly PNG Monster), which is universal in download and is extremely effective. The other is ImageOptim, which is generally a mashup of a bunch of optimizers. The pro to using ImageOptim is that it has support for four file types to be optimized: PNG, JPG, GIF, and SVG, with a con of being MacOS exclusive

Before uploading a new image or revision, images are encouraged to be optimized as it helps the user load the image more effectively and saves server space.

As mentioned before, optimizing is a lossless process. Compression, which is sadly used interchangeably with optimizing, could mean either regular optimizing or the use of LOSSY compression. Lossy compression is where the image quality is reduced (by any varying amount) to make the file size smaller. LOSSY compression should not be used.

Gamma (Brightening) is a type of metadata stored on image files that change the way certain colors are displayed. Usually, it reduces the contrast amongst colors and is typically found on PNGs. While generally unwritten, the policy on gamma brightened photos is to optimize the file only if the original source does not use gamma brightening. If the source image contains gamma brightening metadata, it should not be optimized.

Way back yonder when the OGG format was introduced by Xiph.org, the only extension was .ogg; Since it became wildly much more popular in the later 2000s, they realized that the ability to have almost any type of file use OGG, they formally headlined the creation of different extensions such as OGA (Lossy Audio), OGV (Video), OGX (applications), and XFPF (weird code stuff that I don't understand). Per the creators suggestion, we should use the distinguished naming scheme.

Unfortunately, while popular in the days of 2010, the global standard has dropped universal OGG support for reasons that have yet to really be explained. Some theorize it was because apple was trying to replace it with .mov and .m4a files, but this is conjecture. Generally, google chrome is a good browser to try and view this type of file on. If possible, it may be acceptable to re-rip as MP3 files.

Sample should be used when the name of a piece is what is being played (IE, Green Greens Sample). The sample indicated it is not the full track and therefore fair use. The term section is used when a different theme or motif is used in part of the song. For example, if the first line of the Tetris theme played in a Green Greens track, it is named Green Greens Tetris Section because it is that part--the section--of the (segment=not full track=fair use, hopefully).

How come some files have the name parts in a different order than here?[edit]

Matter of preference to the user.

I prefer distinguishing by game first, the subject of the image second, and the type of image third so that it is simple to tell on pages with multiple games involved (galleries especially), as it makes the most sense to compare files of one game to another first before comparing them to each other. Namewise, how does my Kirby Super Star Gordo Sprite stand out amongst other games? Because it's Kirby Super Star. How does it stand out to other Kirby Super Star files? Because it's a Gordo. How does it stand out to other Kirby Super Star Gordos? Because it is a sprite.

Other people prefer to use the format Subject-Game-Type because it is generally easier to search for in categories.